buy the plants from Laurel Schiller’s Sarasota nursery.
The work was started and finished on Tuesday, March
4, 2008 by an enthusiastic group of Mangrove Chapter
gardeners. The garden was mulched, but no
amendments were added to the soil. The Park
Rangers discovered vintage plant identification signs
buried in a musty corner of a basement space and
they were placed in their appropriate locations. Both
summer and winter helpers were needed to get the
garden established. Mangrove Chapter members
cared for the garden during those first summer
months and the Boca Grande Garden Club tended
the garden during the November 2008 through May
2009 season.
Just before Thanksgiving 2018, Bonnie Moore
and I headed down to the tip of Gasparilla
Island. We were on our way to meet
Christine and John Holyland at the native plant
garden in the State Park. I had heard about the
garden from a few members of the Mangrove
Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society
(FNPS) - the “Little Garden-in-the-Sand” or as
Christine Holyland sometimes calls it, “The Little
Triangle Garden”.
The garden was initiated by Sharon
McKenzie, Director of Barrier Islands Park Society
(BIPS). She is a strong advocate for native plants
and energetic in her support of the environment.
Through BIPS, she appeals for grant money and
donations. Her efforts have helped with
hurricane clean up, repairs, boardwalk and dock
replacement, as well as renovation of the lighthouse.
Her duties cover Gasparilla Island, Cayo
Costa, Don Pedro, and Stump Pass.
The native plant garden was approved a year
after Sharon’s plan was submitted, with the stipulation
that plants were to be purchased from
only two native plant nurseries: Laurel Schiller’s
All Native Plants Nursery in Sarasota and John
Sibley’s All Native Garden Nursery in Ft Myers.
New plants still can not be introduced without
state approval.
Sharon had her support people ready. Denny
Girard, Al Squires, Jane Wallace, and Linda Schilke
from the Mangrove Chapter assisted in choosing
plants and contributing advice on planting. The
Boca Grande Woman’s Club provided funds to
By Carolyn A. Gregsak
Photos by Heidemarie Burke,
Dusty Hopkins and Sharon McKenzie
Photo by Sharon McKenzie. Left to right: John & Christine
Holyland, Phil Parham, Ellen Richter, Merrill & Barb Horswill,
Rich and Sue Freeman plant the Little Garden-in-the-Sand at
Gasparilla Island State Park March 4, 2008.
March/April 2019 GASPARILLA ISLAND 67